Vestibule-door.



No. 806,772. PATENTED DEC. 12, 1905. J. A. BRILL & G. K. PIOKLES. VBS TIBULE DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED 3111.2, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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No. 806,772. PATENTED DEC. 12, 1905. J. A. BRILL & G. K. PIOKLES.

VESTIBULE DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT onrron.

JOHN A. BRILL AND CHARLES K. PICKLES, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYD VANIA'; SAID PICKLES ASSIGNOR TO SAID BRILL.

VESTlBULE-DOOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12 1905.

Application filed January 2, 1904. Serial No 187,394.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

they may be placed against or near the carbody with the least inconvenience to persons standing on the platforms. These objects we accomplish by our invention, one embodiment of which is hereinafter disclosed.

In the drawings forming a part hereof, Figure 1 is a sectional plan View illustrating our invention, the doors being shown in the closed position. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the doors open. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the upper portion of a structure embodying our invention. Fig. 4 is asectional view, somewhat enlarged, taken on the line 4 4-of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4. Figs. 6 and 7 are detailed views. Fig. 8 is an elevation of a portion of a modified structure. Fig. 9 is a sectional View of the same, taken on the line 10 10 of Fig. 8 looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 10 is an enlarged plan view of the door supporting rollers and adjacent parts. Fig. 11 is a sectional view taken on the line 12 12 of Fig. 10 looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 12 shows portions of the doors connected by hinges. Fig. 13 is a sectional view of the same, taken on the line 14 14 of Fig. 12 looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 14 is a perspective view of a set of rails and the bracket for supporting the same. 7

Throughout the various views similar reference characters designate similar parts.

Our improvement may be attached to any suitable structure, although it is preferably used on vestibuled cars, and especially those which are adapted to street-railway traffic.

1 denotes the car-body, which may be of any suitable type and which is preferably provided with the conventional platform and vestibule, the outer post of which is designated by the numeral 2, and the inner post,

which rests against the car-body, by the char-' acter 3.

While the door 4, which comprises a plurality of hinged sections 5 and 6, may be hinged to either post, we prefer to hinge it to the post 3, and the section 6 rests against the post 2 when the door is closed, as will hereinafter appear.

The platform is covered by the usual hood, (not shown,) with a head to which is secured a furring 9, which supports a guide-rail 10. If the car is especially designed for a vestibule, the guide-rail 10 may be directly attached to a properly-shaped head; but as our invention is capable of application to cars not especially designed for vestibules the more complicated structure is shown. A rail 11 runs parallel to the rail 10, which is secured to the post 2 by screws 12 in any suitable manner. Both the rails 10 and 11 are straight and form guides for a vertically-disposed roller 13, which is pivotally connected with a bracket 14, that is fixed to the upper edge ofthe door 6 near its outer extremity. The doors 5 and 6 are hinged together by hinges 15 on their exteriors and at their adjacent edges, which hinges may be of any suitable form. The head 8 and posts 2 and 3 form a door-frame, in which the door 4 is hung.

The upper edge of the door 6 is provided with a spring-bolt 16 at a point adjacent to the door 5.. This bolt 16 comprises a tubular casing 17, which is countersunk in an opening 18 in the upper part of the said door, and in this casing 17 is the pin 19, which passes through said casing into the opening 18. Its upward movement is limited by a stop-pin 20, which engages the lower end of the casing 17 when the spring 21, which rests in said casing and surrounds said pin, controls the bolt. The upper end of the pin is provided with a flanged plate 22, against which the upper end of the coiled spring 21 rests. One flange 23 extends down against a flange 24 on the casing 17 and is provided withahandle 25, which maybe given any suitable shape and by which the bolt is operated. The other flange 26 of the plate 22 extends downwardly against the outer surface of the door 6 and upwardly to form a projection 27, which is beveled at 28 to engage either a keeper 29, secured to the roof or hood, or a second keeper 30, which projects from the car 1. Both of said keepers are provided with vertically-disposed openings, I

which are so disposed that they may be readily entered bysaid projection 27 whether the doors be opened or closed.

As the doors are apt to sag or in some other way get out of alinement, we find that it is expedient to provide the post 2 with recesses 31, surrounded by slotted plates 32, which are countersunk flush with the inner. face of the post. Pointed projections 33 on the outer edge of the door 6 project into said recesses and engage said plates, thereby holding the door 4 secure. To further secure this door in place, the lower end of the post 2 is provided immediately above the floor of the platform with guides 34 and 35, and the door 6 is given a bent metal plate 36, which engages said guides and saves the door from abrasion. The keeper 30 may also be provided with any sort of a cushion, one being shown at 37 located below the bar which forms the keeper. Thus cushion or stop 37 protects the car 1 from abrasion by swinging doors and the doors from injury by striking the car-body.

The structure being understood, the operation of our improvements is apparent. Assuming the door to be in the position indicated in Figs. 1 and 3, it is changed to that shown in Fig. 2 by disengaging the bolt 16 and the keeper 29 through the handle 25, as is obvious, and then drawing said handle slightly inwardly. The roller 13 then rests against the rail 11 and is guided by it so that the door 6 is withdrawn from the post 2 and folded against the door 5 when the latter reaches the stop 37. The catch 16 engages the keeper 30 and the door 4 is held securely, as indicated in Fig. 2. The closing of the door from this position is a reversal of the above-mentioned steps. When the hinges become somewhat worn, the guides 34 and 35 and pins 33 direct the final movement of the door 6 and force its outer edge against the post 2 and secure the door 4 in its proper place. The rails 10 and 11 and are preferably arranged as shownthat is, out of the plane of the doors when closed.

The modified structure shown in Figs. 8 to 14 is provided with a means for keeping the door from sagging, and this means may or may not be used in combination with the guides or keepers described above. This means comprises guide and supporting rails 40, which are fixed to the car-body 1, but not to the post 2, because this post is liable to settle or sag with the platform and the load placed on it, so in lieu of being fastened to the post 2 the parallel rails 40 are supported near their outer ends by a bracket 41, which is fixed to the car-body 1 and keeps the rails 40 in their proper position, which is similar to the position of the rails 10 and 11 above described. The door 6 is provided with a roller 42, which is similar to the roller 13, ex-

cept that this roller 42 does not extend to the upper edges of the rails 40. This roller 42 is journaled on a spindle 43, which extends upwardly from the bracket 44 above the swivel bearing-plate 45, and this spindle is provided with a collar 46, which rests on this plate. The swivel-plate 45 may be given any suitable shape, although it is preferably made with three studs or journals, on which the flanged wheels 47 are mounted so as to be free to turn. These flanged wheels are arranged as shown, so that two wheels rest on one rail and the remaining wheel rests on the other. The bracket 41 is provided with a bifurcated portion 48, which is secured to the outer surface of the rails 40 so as not to interfere with the wheels 47 when rolling on the rails. To further facilitate the operation of the doors 5 and 6, the hinges 15 are provided with spindles 49, which are surrounded by springs 50, the ends of which are so arranged that the end springs resist the placing of the doors 5 and 6 in the position indicated in Fig. 2 and assist in keeping these doors in the position indicated in Figs. 1, 3, and 8.

It is obvious that the guide-rails 10 and 11 may be placed on the platform and the roller 13 at the lower edge of the end or that the roller and guides may be duplicated at the top and bottom of the door, as may be expedient. These and many other modifications of our invention may be made without departing from its spirit or sacrificing any of its advantages, so that our invention should not be limited to exact details of the structure shown.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is- 1. A folding door comprising a plurality of sections, spring-hinges connecting said sections and tending to hold them in one plane,

the end one of said sections being hinged to a relatively fixed part, guide-rails for controlling the movement of said other sections and fasteners for securing said doors in either their closed or open positions.

2. A folding door comprising one section hinged to a fixed part, a second section pivoted at one end to said first section, guide-rails to control the movement of the other end of said second section, a manually-operable catch carried by said second section, and means to engage said catch in either the open or closed position of said door.

Signed in the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, this 30th day of December, 1903.

JOHN A. BRILL. CHARLES K. PICKLES.

Witnesses:

WM. J. FERDINAND, TERRENOE MoOUsKER. 

